FLR: Company has won $5.7 billion in new projects!

Fluor Corp (FLR) Strong demand from oil and gas companies lifted earnings at this infrastructure giant by 60% from last year, smashing Wall Street forecasts. Fluor earned $1.50 a share in the first quarter, the company said after the close. Wall Street analysts expected just $1.27. "We underestimated the strength of the oil and gas end markets," said analyst Andy Kaplowitz of Lehman Bros. What's more, the firm raised its full-year EPS outlook to $6.25 to $6.55 ? 21% higher at the mid-point than its $5.10 to $5.50 forecast on Feb. 28. "The Street likes that the best," Kaplowitz said. Revenue in the quarter grew 32% to $4.8 billion, also above forecasts. Fluor won $5.7 billion in new project awards. That was down slightly from the fourth quarter but 28% higher than a year earlier. Though Irving, Texas-based Fluor is one of the more diversified engineering and construction firms in the world, oil and gas projects made up the lion's share of new-project awards, some $4.3 billion. The rest came from industrial, power, global services and government contracts. Total backlog at the end of the quarter stood at a record $31.5 billion! Buy now. Good Trading!